RAW: uncooked, pure, not processed or processed yet, exposed this is what I think of when I see the word “Raw”.

Some people think of; crude behaviors, pain, being naked and even see this word as being dirty. Knowing that we are completely exposed will feel dirty to many, there is nowhere to hide and you most likely feel naked, weak and negative thoughts arise like being ugly, not smart enough and so on.

For me raw food is pure & everything is exposed. If I didn’t cut off a bad spot on pepper and threw it into a dish anyway, didn’t cook it or anything, that pepper stands out & makes the dish ugly and no longer appealing to eat. That also means that feelings, thoughts and actions are raw. There is still work to be done, no single person or thing is perfect, and thoughts are on the track of being truthful, real and at times that means that not everything is beautiful.

There is a time and place to be happy, in mourning, filled with rage and calm.

I’ve noticed lately that I’ve been keeping myself underground, not just with my website but in life in general. It’s difficult to make friends and meet new people when I know lifestyle choices will come up. I read somewhere that when most people turn vegan they feel like going on top of a mountain and shouting they are vegan and that everyone should be. I don’t think most raw vegans feel this way, at least I do not. Usually people think I just eat lettuce or that I have some sort of eating disorder. It hurts that people do not try to understand or assume that there is seriously something that matter with you.

I can honestly say I eat raw because it makes me feel good inside and out. It helped cleanse out mental and physical garbage. I even started working out more and talking more! It works for me & I would never force it onto anyone.

Loads of friends and acquaintances have said, “Wow, is that why you are skinny?” I’ve always been more on the peanut size and I feel fine with saying I’VE ACTUALLY GAINED WEIGHT. Yes, I gained weight going raw and I hardly ever eat avocados, nuts, and chocolates and so on. I started working out more and between being raw and upping my physical activities I have become more lean and muscular.

Most of my business/button up tops are now extremely tight around my arms. Here is the proof, the photo to the left I am relaxing my arm & the photo to the right where I can not even completely flex in my top even though the rest of it isn’t even tight on me. Another example is the avatar for my page/user icon (image quality is a little bit better with that one, these are just from my phone).

Going raw has made me more aware of my feelings and cravings. When I feel lonely, hopeless and depressed I want salty foods/processed foods. My mood reflects what I crave, I feel salty and processed when I am down. So do I go and eat a bag of pretzels? No, I eat something that will help my energy level and mental state. When I feel down I’ll make an extra colorful meal that has a nice crunchy texture with some salt, meeting my craving half way. The other day when I felt this way I made a Broccoli Slaw consisting of; broccoli stems, cauliflower stems, red pepper, yellow pepper, red cabbage, carrots, tahini, orange juice, coconut vinegar, olive oil, flax oil, Himalayan pink salt and pepper.

After eating this, reading and going for a walk I felt a little better. We all need something different, and with that said I can’t say that you all will get the same results “going raw” or upping your raw food in take. Our bodies are all so different, before eating raw I was vegan and already eating mostly raw foods and juices. No one should go from being the biggest meat-eater to going 100% raw, the body will freak out and it will hate on you. For example, may be you have never ever liked Twinkies, but because of making a drastic change in your diet without transitioning you eat an entire box of them. You won’t turn into the Twinkie serial killer, but you are your own Twinkie Killer 😉